Improvement in manufacture of sheet-iron



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID A. MORRIS, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPR OVEMENT IN MANUFACTURE OF SHEET-IRON.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 21,772, dated October12, 1858.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID A. MORRIS, of the city of Pittsburg, in thecounty of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a newImprovement in the Manufacturing of Sheet-Iron; and I declare that thefollowing is a full and exact description thereof.

The article of iron known as polished Russia sheet-iron possessespeculiar qualities that distinguish it from all other kinds ofsheet-iron. The principal feature is a blueblack enamel, which gives theiron a beautiful finish and protects it from corrosion. The otherimportant feature is to be found in the iron itself, which is extremelytough and malleable, easily worked into intricate shapes, The surface issteel-like, dense, and hard, not easily defaced, but very durable.

Now, my process for manufacturing sheetiron to possess the above-namedqualifications 1s- First. Procuring well carbureted pig-iron, charcoalcold blast having silicum, aluminium, and manganese only alloyed withthe iron, being free from sulphur, arsenic, phosphorus, copper, &c.,which are difficult to extract, and always injurious to the iron. Afterhaving learned, by analysis or otherwise, the proportion of themetalloids combined in the pigiron, I propose a flux or compound ofreagents so constituted and proportioned as to take up the excess ofaluminium, silicum, and mange: nese, only permitting a minimum of eachto remain. This flux may be used either in the refinery or thepuddling-furnace. By this means a very pure iron can be made-an ironthat will have little or none of the cold-short and red-short qualities.

Second. The iron, being well charged with carbon, requires to bethoroughly worked in the puddling process, and the puddle-balls must bewell hammered and the iron afterward treated in the ordinary way forreducing iron into sheets or plates.

Third. When the sheets are reduced to nearly the required thinness Ipass them through etched 0r mottled rolls a few times, which gives thesheets a fine dappled appearance.

Fourth. I next place the sheets in a suitable heating-furnace or oveninclosed in a tight iron case, and as soon as the sheets are heated upto a bright cherry red I take out a sheet and sprinkle or dustfinely-pulverized charcoal, either animal or vegetable, over the entiresurface. Then I take another sheet and place it on top of the first,cover it with charcoal in the same manner and repeat until I have ten ormore on the pile, which is placed on a large heavy block of cast-iron,so arranged on rollers as to be moved with facility. Then I move thewhole forward under a gang of heavy trip or tilt hammers, which areimmediately set in motion, and the anvil kept moving back and forth andthe hammering continued until the iron is no longer red, which will be aconsiderable time, as the heat is kept up by the combustion of thecharcoal between the sheets. It may be more convenient sometimes to runthis pack or pile of sheets several times through the heavy mottledrolls, which operates very well; but I prefer using the gang oftrip'hammers.

Fifth. I place the sheets a second time in the tight iron cases and heatthem to a brightbrown or low'red heat. Then I take them out quickly andpile fifty or more of them on the movable anvil, and give them a secondhammerin g, using a heavier blow than before. This second hammering willtake out the buckle and improve the finish. If the sheets happen to geta little two hot, 1 pile them with cold sheets alternately.

Sixth. I then pack the sheets in large airtight cases and place them ina suitably-constructed annealing-oven, and after they are properlyannealed I take them out and shear them to proper sizes, which completesthe center process.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-- Manufacturing enameled anti-corrosive sheetiron by the processabove specified.

I). A. MORRIS. Witnesses:

WILLIAM COLTAST, JOHN W. KELLBERG, Tnos. STEEL.

